As I went through this reading I was struck by many of the same things as Stephanie. I think it also has to do with the fact that I am also currently studying and preparing to be involved in the healthcare field. With this ethnographies detail of how the addiction has become an inescapable part of the land, it really dispels any illusions of the healthcare field I had and forced me to be honest and transparent with my understanding of how many shortcomings and issues exist within the ‘professional setting.’
Something that I thought was interesting was how, in the introduction, the commentary on the distribution of the relaxers was made. Garcia comments on how the relaxers that were given out at the clinics could often be found all around being used for recreation, however, at the clinic, where those handing out the relaxers with no proper training were considered ‘legitimate’ because of the false security or authority that comes with the idea of the clinic. This again reminds me of the many conversations had about the failures of public health and helps me to really see the whole picture Garcia is painting as this commentary is paired with her many stories of the heroin syringes being intertwined with every single aspect of the land.
This also reminds me of the piece on the midwives because it too explicitly talks about how there is a need for a bridge due to the failing pieces of the healthcare field. These two texts paired together has helped me piece together a large picture of the gaps between our current world and proper care/health.